Redefine The Line
by Seta Kaita
Summary: This is a collection of RonnieXLem one-shots. Yaoi, RonnieXLem
1. Season 1, Episode 1

**Title**: Redefine The Line

**Author**: Seta_Kaita

**Fandom**: The Shield

**Pairing**: LemXRonnie

**Warnings**: Shônen-ai/Yaoi/Slash/Boyslove (meaning homosexuality)

**Author's Notes**: This fic is a collection of one-shots I'm gonna write while re-re-re-re-watching the series ;)

**Dedication**: To **Pilotofmymind** for writing the only other Lem/Ronnie-fics in the whole WWW; to **Sarah**, my dear friend, for putting up with me whenever I started drooling all over my pillow when Lem or Ronnie entered the scene

**Disclaimer**: The Shield and all the mentioned characters don't belong to me (for the copyright look it up yourself), I do not use them for commercial means, but to every fan's entertainment.

**Season 1, Episode 1**

"Forget it", Ronnie said, shaking his head with a sigh. "She's not gonna stay with me unless I change my name to Karl Lagerfeld and give her my whole new collection of designer handbags as a birthday present." He shut the folder he had been working on with a loud thud. Vic grinned to this, Shane laughed with Terry and Lem just sighed and shook his head.

"It seemed to work really well with you two this morning. What is it with women and handbags?" Lem leaned back in his chair, running a hand through his hair in an exasperated gesture like he always did whenever he would stop chewing on his lip. Or scratch his arm. Or cheek. Or fold and unfold his arms. The man had so many quirks, Ronnie thought he'd die one day because he was too busy with his hair to notice a guy aiming his gun at him.

The problem was, Ronnie secretly hoped Lem would never stop doing it. He liked Lem's hair a lot, he'd always had a thing for blondes. And the way Lem wore it, looking just a little like a teenager who'd bought his first hair gel and tried to look a little rebellious, Ronnie had to admit it got to him. And it wasn't just the hair, although he would have given his whole paycheck to run his fingers through it like Lem always did. Just once.

It was also Lem's lips. While Vic, Shane and Terry started a new card game and chatted about some naughty thing or the other - Ronnie didn't really pay attention - Lem stared at the opposite wall, this bright blue eyes unfocussed, and started chewing on his lower lip again.

Ronnie fell silent - not that anyone noticed, Ronnie wasn't exactly a chatterbox - and just watched his blonde team mate. He let his eyes travel from Lem's face to his ears when the man scratched them, down his neck to the black tank top that outlined Lem's muscular torso quite nicely and finally stopped at Lem's arms. Ronnie wished he had arms like Lem did. Not only was he the only one on the Strike Team who looked like he spent more time sitting on his ass than chasing bad guys all around Farmington, but he also didn't develop muscles too easily. Lem had once told him, that we worked out two times a week and the bastard just didn't seem to have any problems keeping in shape.

Ronnie sighed quietly, lifting his eyes back to Lem's face and meeting curious blue eyes. It took all his self-control to force down a blush that would definitely have betrayed his – frankly quite innocent – thoughts. Staring back at Lem he wondered when the other man had noticed his look and he almost opened his mouth to ask, but thought better of it. Instead he just sat there calmly, while the other guys, oblivious to anything going on between the two, joked and laughed. Lem didn't make any move to ask him why the hell Ronnie was checking him out. He just leaned his arms on the table, still looking at Ronnie curiously, expectantly.

Twenty minutes later Vic decided to go over their plan for the night again and Lem looked away. The moment these blue eyes left Ronnie's, he could have sworn he heard his heart break.

.-~-.-~-.

Ronnie sat in the driver's seat, Shane next to him, staring out into the dark. Lem was quietly muttering curses under his breath in the back of the van, clutching his bandaged hand, Vic's eyes where rapidly moving like they used to when he was thinking very hard. He was probably blaming himself for Terry's death just as much as they all did.

Ronnie felt sorry for the guy, but he'd never been one for excessive grief. Or any other kind of emotion. His face was usually a calm mask, not because he was repressing his emotions, but because he just didn't feel them as strongly as other people did. Like Shane and Lem. He couldn't remember ever being all too upset because of something. Of course he'd been angry before and that was probably the strongest emotion he could feel. But apart from hissing a curse he usually didn't react to that feeling.

When he pulled into a parking space at the Barn and shut off the engine, no one made a move to get out of the van. Lem just let his head sink a little lower, Shane and Vic still started ahead. Ronnie sighed and got out. He didn't hurry to walk around the car and open the doors in the back before walking to Shane's door and opening that one, too. They didn't move, except for Lem, who lifted his head and looked at Ronnie sadly. Ronnie took a moment to enjoy Lem's attention before he focused on Shane and shook his shoulder.

"Hey man, we're back. Think you can drive?" He didn't raise his voice much above a whisper, but it was enough to snap Shane out of whatever trance he'd been in. The southerner blinked a couple of times, then turned to look at Ronnie and nodded. While he climbed out Ronnie got in through the back doors. He paused to kneel next to Lem and squeeze his shoulder before he sat down next to Vic and put an arm around his shoulders. That seemed to attract Vic's attention and the man looked back at Ronnie.

They smelled Shane's cigarette smoke while he silently told Vic it wasn't his fault. Of course their leader produced a weak imitation of what could have been considered a smile on Ronnie's lips and told them he was okay. He got up and left the van, too, to stand by Shane and talk to him. Ronnie watched him go absentmindedly, but got pulled back into reality when Lem got up just to sit down next to Ronnie and catch him in a desperate hug. He could feel the blonde shaking all over with suppressed sobs.

Whatever Shane and Vic where doing or talking about, it seemed to take all their attention and Ronnie was left alone with Lem. He tried to comfort the man without picturing all the places he could let his hands travel to and plead innocent afterwards, because, really, he was just trying to make Lem feel better. Instead he just rubbed the man's back in slow motions, stopping here and there when he found an interesting dip or curve he couldn't refrain from touching a couple of times more than strictly necessary.

After a while Lem calmed down, but that didn't stop him from clutching Ronnie's shoulders in a death grip that started to hurt more and more by the minute. He could feel his moist breath on his neck, smell Lem's aftershave that intoxicated his mind. Not even the images of grannies in thongs could disgust him enough to prevent his body from reacting to the feel of having Lem pressed up against him like that. He was just glad it was dark.

The darkness could not, however, mask his far too treacherous gasp when he felt Lem's lips accidentally touch his neck. He tensed up completely, trying not to panic when Lem stopped moving, too. He was an atheist, there was nothing to say about that, but he still sent a silent prayer to heaven or hell or whoever wanted to listen to him and make Lem oblivious to what was going on in his head.

One thing he had learned in life: It was unpredictable.

As was Lem's shaky breath on his neck again, when the man leaned forward slightly to close the small gap between his face and Ronnie's neck to plant a none-too-innocent kiss there. Ronnie's fingers clutched Lem's shoulders when those lips on his neck opened enough to allow the blonde to slightly suck on his skin. Some people would say they'd have felt like floating in a situation like this; Ronnie felt like falling and sinking deeper and deeper, trying to swim in dangerous waters and pull his mind out of the goddamn gutter where it joined Lem's happily. If Vic and Shane had decided to come back and see where their team mates were, they might have been able to tell whom of the two was indeed quicker: Lem whose head shot up the second his lips left Ronnie's neck, or Ronnie who grabbed Lem's chin to lift it enough to kiss the living daylights out of the man.

Definitely clear was that Ronnie wasn't the only one on the team who liked to play with both genders. Maybe it was wrong to exploit Lem's weakness in a moment of emotional loss and follow his own interests, but Lem certainly didn't complain. Not back then, not later at night when he found his way into Ronnie's bed, nor when he woke up the next morning to wake Ronnie with a few kisses to places that shouldn't be mentioned in a room full of minors.


	2. Season 1, Episode 2

**Season 1, Episode 2**

Lem had rarely seen Ronnie this excited. He still felt the adrenaline rush through his system; everyone on the Strike Team loved busting down doors of criminals and beating up their asses and there was nothing quite like roughing up a gang initiation. Still, Ronnie seemed overly psyched tonight. If Lem didn't know better, he'd have said his buddy had taken something, preferably some brightly colored pills. But he knew he hadn't. Maybe it was just his way of relieving stress after Terry's death. Whatever it was, Lem found it quite amusing. He couldn't help watching his brunette teammate cuff up some gangster and give him a forceful push to send him flying into Danny's arms. She just smiled at Ronnie and walked the guy away.

Looking around Lem noticed most of the guys were gone already, so he walked over to Ronnie who was joking with the unis about some tattoo one of the Magnificos had. It was probably supposed to be a tiger or a lion or something, but really, it just looked like a kitten. It was actually pretty cute. When Ronnie noticed him approaching, he waved to the guys and closed the distance between them to throw an arm around Lem's shoulders and walk back to the car with him, surprising Lem again by being unusually chatty. As soon as they reached the car and were out of eyesight of the others, Lem put his arms around Ronnie's waist and pulled him close to kiss him softly. Ronnie on the other hand seemed to be in quite a different mood and backed Lem up against the car, returning the kiss far more passionately than Lem had originally intended. Never one to miss up on a chance to practically devour his teammate, Lem didn't hold back for a second.

Standing with his back to the rest of the crew, his head completely in the clouds, he didn't notice Vic walking up to them; neither did Ronnie. So when the bald man let out a chuckle, they both froze in place, not really knowing what to do. When Ronnie finally pulled away, Lem turned around to see Vic leaning on the car with his head on his arms, an amused smirk on his face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your, err, private time. I just thought we should get back to the Barn so you two can go home and continue without an audience." Vic motioned to the officers in the background. Most of them had left already and the rest didn't seem to have noticed anything, except for Danny, who smiled and waved at them. Lem crooked an eyebrow and looked over to Ronnie, who wore his usual calm mask of indifference. So much for being out of eyesight, Lem thought, shrugging and getting in the car.

It wasn't like he cared about anyone knowing he was screwing Ronnie. And by the looks of it, neither did Ronnie.


	3. Season 1, Episode 3

**Season 1, Episode 3**

Every cop in L.A. hated warrant sweep day and Ronnie was not an example. It didn't improve matters that the Strike Team had gotten more warrants than the other teams since they were four instead of the usual two cops per team. When Vic looked through the papers, Ronnie scanned the names from over his shoulder. He knew a lot of the bastards, either because they were just scumbags or because the Strike Team had taken them out before. Some days he wondered if he'd ended up like one of them if he'd grown up poor. But then again, so had Lem and he had become a cop. Maybe it was just L.A. that turned people bad.

When Vic walked over to Danny to flirt with her or whatever he would call it, he watched Shane talk to Paula, wondering if he was still trying to hit on her. He came back just in time to follow Vic over to his visitor. Looking through the window, Ronnie recognized Connie. She looked quite beaten and covered her neck with her shaking right hand. Worried, Ronnie followed the others. Before he could get very far, Lem turned around, aimed his gun at the unis shouting "Police! Freeze, sucker!" and gave Danny a second shower. Laughing Ronnie watched her chase Lem throughout half the Barn. Maybe this day wasn't all that bad, after all.

.-~-.-~-.

And really, things seemed to start improving. When they arrested Virgil Lewis and his boys and actually stumbled across Derrick Tripp, Ronnie knew by the look on Vic's face, things would turn interesting soon. First, though, he was sent back to the Barn with Lem to drop the shitheads off. He only hoped the dope they'd smoked was good shit; he'd hate to clean the seats if they started puking on the ride.

As he sat next to Lem in the front of the car he wondered what Vic and Shane were up to now. They'd probably come up with an idea to make some profit out of the whole thing. Vic was great at making plans and as far as Ronnie was concerned, it was all about the money anyway. And if that meant he had to endure a car ride with two dumb pieces of shit who were too stoned to actually have a proper conversation or try to defend themselves, he could live with it.

Back at the Barn, he stood in line in front of the cage to wait for the two to be locked away while Lem was talking to Shane on the phone. Ronnie had long since noticed that Lem's body language and facial expressions were like an open book to him. The man just didn't really know how to hide his emotions, or maybe he wasn't trying. He was so unlike Ronnie in this regard that he couldn't help but watch his teammate curiously. The way Lem talked to Shane looked very intimate. He knew the two of them were really close, closer than Ronnie was to any of them. Shane was Lem's best friend and sometimes Ronnie wondered if there wasn't something else between them.

Why would he think such a thing? Because he secretly felt that way for the blonde. He would never act out on that, but when he let his mind wander in the quiet hours of night when he actually got to think, all his thoughts seemed to circle around Lem. It wasn't obsessive or anything, but there were just certain things about the blonde Ronnie loved. Mostly his character since it was hard to find a guy physically attractive when you were actually straight.

When it was his turn after what seemed like ages – Lem spent the whole time talking to Shane – Ronnie could finally drop his load off and motion to Lem to get back to Vic.

"Hey man, Vic's got a plan to make some money! C'mon, I wanna drop by Big 5 before we head back." Lem clapped Ronnie on the back and rubbed his hands in anticipation.

.-~-.-~-.

With all the work they had to put into the whole thing, Ronnie was glad to finish his day. He'd also earned quite some money today, so he knew he probably shouldn't complain.

Getting out of the club house he put on his jacket and dug around in his pockets for his keys. Claudette passed him on the way and smiled to him. He smiled back, still looking for his keys. When he got out on the parking lot, he still hadn't found them. He pulled his jacket off again, going through all his pockets again while walking in the direction of his car. When he looked up to see where he was walking, he saw a figure standing by his car, leaning against it. Getting closer, he realized it was Lem. He looked up when Ronnie reached him.

"Hey man. Hope you don't mind me waiting on ya." The flash of his teeth was bright in the darkness, as was the light reflecting off the keys Lem waved in his direction.

"You stole my keys?" Ronnie chuckled. Leave it to Lem to play pranks on his friends. Lem grinned and walked to the door, opened it and got in the driver's seat. Shaking his head, Ronnie followed.

"First you steal my keys, then you hijack my car? What's next? You gonna tie me up and take me home?"

"If you want me to." Lem said laughing while pulling out of the parking space.

"Kinky bastard." Ronnie replied, imagining what it would be like to get tied up by Lem. Could anyone blame him for liking that idea?

"Ha, you'd like that!" Lem passed the gate and turned left.

"Hell yeah!" Ronnie couldn't help but laugh at the weirdness of the situation. He didn't even need to lie, Lem wouldn't take him serious anyway. "So what's the plan?"

" Dunno, I thought I'd just steal you and your car, take you to my place and have a couple beers or something. I feel like celebrating since we both made a lot of money today." Ronnie realized he'd never been to Lem's place before. He knew the man didn't have any more money than he did, so it was probably just as run down as his place was.

"So I was right! Except for the tying up part." Ronnie chuckled.

"So what, you coming?" Was it just Ronnie's imagination or did Lem sound hopeful?

"Do I have a choice? You already kidnapped me!" Lem hummed in agreement and sped up a little.

.-~-.-~-.

Ronnie couldn't really recall the exact circumstances that had gotten him in this situation. He was sitting on Lem's couch with his fifth beer in hand and talking mostly to the wall across from his position because in his state of slight drunkenness it wasn't such a good idea to look down all the time. He would have had to do that if he'd wanted to talk to Lem face to face, though. Because the blonde was stretched out on the couch with his head resting in Ronnie's lap. Which was a little weird. Not that he minded, hell no. But he felt like he couldn't really concentrate on what he was saying as well as he usually could, even in a state like this. He also found this a bad idea because he'd noticed his hand moving over Lem's t-shirt tracing the seam at Lem's arms a while ago. Lem didn't seem to mind – he probably didn't even feel it – but something about practically stroking your best friend had a strange taste to it.

After a while, talk turned towards Shane and his freak-out today. It wasn't like Ronnie wanted to hear Lem talking about the southerner since he still suspected Lem to have secret feelings for the man. Downing the rest of his beer didn't help at all so he decided to just listen to the way Lem was talking about him.

He seemed cautious with his wording, more than Ronnie knew him to. Usually Lem would just say whatever came to mind. Now Ronnie could hear him stumble over his words and stop to think for a second. It did nothing to improve his mood since he took it as an affirmation for Lem actually having feelings for his best friend. Sighing loudly he lifted his bottle to see if there was anything left in it; there wasn't. He could get up and get a new one. But Lem was still lying in his lap.

"Want me to get you a new one?" Lem offered, having looked up, too. Ronnie shook his head.

"You'd have to get up for that."

"And what's the problem with that? Believe me, I'm not drunk enough to fall over the moment my feet hit the ground." Lem joked, moving to push himself up. Ronnie moved his hand to Lem's chest, pressing down slightly to hinder Lem in his plans.

"It's fine. I don't really want you to move, is all." He passed Lem his empty bottle so he could put it on the floor where the other empty bottles lay.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lem wondered aloud. Judging by the movement of his head, Lem had turned his head to look up to Ronnie. Throwing all caution in the wind – which was pretty easy thanks to his best friend: alcohol – he decided to just ask.

"Have you ever felt more than friendship for a guy? Like Shane for example?" He asked straightforwardly, slowly bowing his head to look down at Lem's confused face, making sure he didn't start puking from any sudden movement.

"… what? You got any specific reason why you're asking this? And just for protocol: No, I do not have any romantic feelings for Shane. Why'd you think that?" If Ronnie didn't know Lem completely sucked at lying, he wouldn't have believed his friend. After all, it was pretty obvious, right? But if Lem wasn't in love with Shane, what had the two been whispering about all the time?

"Oh, I just thought you and him looked pretty intimate. You know, standing together and whispering about something or the other, having phone calls all day and the way you talk about him is pretty suspicious, too." He tried not to sound jealous although he truly was. Just imagining the two together made his blood boil. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this possessive about someone. It must've been way back in high school – which was over twenty years ago.

"C'mon man, he's my best friend, of course we're pretty intimate with each other, but not in the way you think. And about those phone calls: We were actually discussing your first question. Since we're already being honest with each other I can just as well tell you: Yes, I have felt more than friendship for a guy. And yes, you know him, before you ask." Lem pouted and turned his head towards his beer that stood on the couch table at arm's reach. If Ronnie wasn't totally mistaken, Lem had gotten nervous now. He tried to mask it with feigned anger and hurt, but the brunette could just read him too well. Interesting.

"What, you mean Vic? C'mon buddy, he's great and all, but seriously?" Ronnie laughed, trying to lift the mood a little.

"Vic? You kiddin' me?" Lem punched his arm laughing. Still grinning Ronnie stole Lem's beer from him, took a swig and handed it back, ignoring Lem's look of discontent. They fell silent for a while, listening to the neighbors fighting about something they couldn't really understand. Ronnie let his thoughts wander once more, wondering who the guy was - or had been - for whom Lem had fallen. Wondering what kind of guys Lem liked. Wondering if he could ever become one of them. His hand started playing with Lem's t-shirt again unconsciously.

When Lem had finished his beer, he dropped the bottle to the floor where it kicked over a couple of the others with a loud crash Lem didn't seem to notice at all. Putting both hands on the couch he slowly began to sit up, even though Ronnie tried to keep him down. He then moved a little backwards to sit next to Ronnie again. Looking up, Lem met his eyes. There was a kind of sadness deep within the ocean blue, melancholy lingering just beneath the surface.

"You know, I don't like mustaches, but…" Lem trailed off, leaning forward towards Ronnie, putting a hand on his shoulder for balance. He got closer still, his breath smelling of beer ghosted over Ronnie's cheek who could only sit and stare at Lem in surprise, unable to command his body to get a move and fucking kiss him!

Where Ronnie lacked control over his body, Lem obviously pulled through with his intentions against better judgment. He could see the struggle going on in his mind mirrored in Lem's eyes, he could feel it when Lem stopped breathing, he could sense it when Lem hesitated just an inch from Ronnie's lips. Ronnie had never seen Lem's eyes shining with emotion so brightly; the man had never been so beautiful. Breaking free from the chains that seemed to hold him back from taking what he really wanted, Ronnie leaned forward to cross the line Lem couldn't seem to bring himself to breach.

Lem didn't have to tell him, didn't have to voice it, say "I love you" or paraphrase it, because Ronnie could feel it quite clearly in Lem's slow, tender kisses that got him through the night.

.-~-.-~-.

The next morning, Ronnie found himself in yet another weird situation. He got to work early since he still had some paperwork left from yesterday. Lem had been too lazy to get up with him, so he arrived even later than the rest of the team. When he greeted the others, Ronnie could see Shane looking at Lem expectantly, but Lem obviously ignored him in favor of putting his private gun in his locker. He then collapsed on the couch, sighing loudly.

"Why didn't you just kick me outta bed, Ronnie? I fell asleep again!" Lem groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes. The rest of the team stopped in their tracks, looked over to Lem, then to Ronnie who just quirked an eyebrow, then back to Lem. Before anyone could voice any questions, Shane burst into laughter.

"About time, buddy!" The southerner jumped up and tackled Lem on the couch, messing with his hair and laughing like mad. Although the other two seemed to get what was going on, they chose not to comment and just grinned in silence. Shaking his head, Ronnie went back to his paperwork.


End file.
